Nigerian journalists charged for criticizing polio campaign

Abuja, Nigeria, February 13, 2013--Authorities in Nigeria's
northern state of Kano should drop the criminal charges filed on Tuesday against
two radio journalists who have been detained since Sunday in connection with
their criticism of local officials' handling of a polio vaccination campaign,
the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Yakubu Musa Fagge, presenter for private broadcaster Wazobia
FM, and Mubarak Muhamad Sani, a
reporter for the same station, face charges including criminal conspiracy, abetment,
defamation of character, obstruction of a public officer carrying out his duty,
intentional insult, and incitement to violence, according to local journalists
and news
reports.

The charges stem from a February 6 radio show in which Fagge
accused local officials of abusing their power by allegedly forcing the public
into immunizing children against polio, according to news
reports and local journalists. Police allege that the broadcast led to a
February 8 attack in which gunmen shot
nine health care workers administering polio vaccines. Nigeria is one of only
three countries, along with Pakistan and Afghanistan, still considered to have
endemic polio, according to international news reports.

Fagge and Sani denied the charges, Ibrahim Shuaibu, a local
correspondent of leading daily ThisDay who
witnessed the court hearing, told CPJ. They were remanded in police custody
pending their appearance in court on Thursday, when their bail application will
be heard, Abduljalal Haruna, the Kano state chairman of
the Nigeria Union of Journalists, told CPJ.

Fagge broadcast a report by Sani in the February 6 program,
describing an altercation earlier that day between Abubakar Rabo, a private
citizen, and immunization workers led by Alhaji
Ado Kurawa, district head of the Tarauni Local Government in Kano, according to local journalists. The health
care workers had attempted to vaccinate Rabo's children at a wedding, but Rabo
had denied them access to his home. In the ensuing confrontation, Sani reported
being assaulted and his equipment seized.

After broadcasting Sani's report, Fagge criticized the local
government for using force to carry out the polio vaccinations, Mohammed
Suleiman Gama, Wazobia FM's Head of Content told CPJ. Fagge contrasted the aggressive
approach to the methods of persuasion used by Western governments. The
presenter also questioned the role and motive of Kurawa
in supporting the methods of the campaign, according to Shuaibu. Shuaibu also told
CPJ that Fagge had often been critical of Kano's ruling government in his
broadcasts.

"We are deeply troubled by the very
serious criminal charges lodged against Wazobia FM journalists over a radio
program that raised critical questions about the Kano state government's
handling of a polio vaccination campaign," said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator
Mohamed Keita from New York. "Authorities have presented no evidence to
substantiate these accusations. The charges against Wazobia FM journalists
should be dropped."

Police detained Fagge, Sani, and Gama on Sunday after the
deputy governor of Kano complained about the program, local journalists told
CPJ. Police released Gama the next day, but accused Fagge and Sani of
conspiring with Rabo to defame Kurawa and the polio campaign, news
reports said.